The Undertow: Session Seventeen

Mikansia: the main character, a female elven swordsinger played by Lena. She had traveled with Ensio and Dale to destroy an eldtrich egg, an instrument used by the Nameless to corrupt a planet. She and her companions had already bested the challenges the egg (including a succubus, who seemed to know Ensio quite well) had thrown at them, including a fully-resurrected Krakeru.

Krakeru: Mikansia's incredibly evil and vile father. A product of the evil cult The Lone Keep, Krakeru had raped Mikansia in an effort to corrupt her to serving The Nameless. Later on he had killed Jabez. Mikansia had killed him with Jabez's sword. Last session the eldritch egg had brought Krakeru back from the dead, only to die in a fight with Mikansia and Ensio.

Jabez: Mikansia's friend from the Sword Singers. He had helped Mikansia get to the surface to fight Krakeru in the first place, trading his sword to get her safe passage. He was then exiled from Kotae Mah, and was sent deliberately to Elfharrow, a dark elf bastion, where he was enslaved, raped repeatedly, and finally mentally broken by Krakeru. Confronted with Mikansia again, Jabez had declared he regretted ever helping because of how much pain it had caused him. She managed to help him find his true self again, giving him the strength to fight against Krakeru, on his own two feet, on his terms, even if it meant death. Krakeru killed him in on sword swing.

General Santeri: Jabez's father. Mikansia had snuck back to Kotae Mah to give Jabez's sword. Santeri told Mikansia to keep the blade, as only someone truly worthy would have gotten that sword in the first place. General Santeri then vowed to find out why his son had been exiled to Elfharrow, something that he had been ignorant of until Mikansia had brought it to his attention.

Tyce: After being raped by Krakeru, Mikansia had a bout of anxiety and paranoia, not to mention heavy drinking. She bumped into Tyce, a human guard, and had a one-night stand with him. Later, when The Music, a product of the Nameless that wiped out a human's personality before killing them, had affected Tyce, Mikansia helped him regain himself. He managed to get reinforcements in the form of a dragon and crazy elf before collapsing and dying from The Music. He had reappeared when Mikansia, Ensio, and Dale had come to the cave, but had vanished from sight soon after.

Zaina: A crazed female elven swordsinger that had been in love with Jabez. Upon meeting Mikansia Zaina had attempted to kill her. She was adamant in her belief that Jabez would have loved her, had he gotten to know her.

Ensio: the blacksmith of the Sword Runners, a family gang dedicated to selling elven quality weapons to humans on the surface who needed them. Ensio had apparently had an encounter with a succubus sometime in his past, only to kill her. The egg had brought her back. The Creature from Dream had dispatched her with Jabez's sword.

Dale: Ensio's half-elven son. The Creature from Dream had pressured Dale into stealing Jabez's sword from Mikansia by making him dream of his wife Ember getting raped, night after night, for months. Finally breaking down, Dale stole the sword and got it to the creature.

The Creature from Dream: When Mikansia first began to think of trying to get to the surface to face Krakeru the Creature from Dream appeared to her while she slept. It had shimmering green scales, rainbow feathers from the back of its head, and a metal facemask which hid its true features. It had requested that Mikansia steal Jabez's sword then. She had refused it. It got it from Dale. It showed up last session, killing the succubus Ensio was so afraid of in one clean stroke with a rainbow blade that had Jabez's hilt. Somehow the creature had changed Jabez's sword.

The creature stepped through the remains of the succubus and lowered its rainbow blade. There were whispers surrounding it; they were indistinct, but they grew louder as it walked up to Mikansia.  She asked it why Jabez's sword in particular, why go to so much trouble to get it? The creature cocked its head at her. One of the whispers became more distinct, a male elven voice: "I should have waited a little bit longer before coming for you". Another voice, this time an elven female: "So much history. So much sorrow. So much pain".

"I'll let them kill you over my dead body" A scream was heard, and then a clattering.

"How could you do this to me??" said another female voice.

And then Jabez: "Fuck you and your worthiness, almighty general! I'll make myself worthy! You'll see! I'll make you see!" A few whispers later Mikansia heard Jabez again: "I will be worthy of you. I will do it!"

The creature turned away and walked over to the cavern wall nearby. It swung the sword through the wall. All of a sudden Ensio was charging it, yelling that it couldn't finish what it was doing! Dale was right behind him.  The creature wasn't incredibly skilled with the blade, but given the deadly nature of said blade it didn't need to be. But Mikansia was incredibly skilled. With a single movement the sword flew out of the creature's clawed hand and lodged itself into the opposite wall, buried a few inches into the rock.

The creature's scales shifted from shimmering green to a glowing orange. It punched the wall next to it and vanished. Krakeru appeared before Mikansia. This was not the real Krakeru, but the one of Mikansia's nightmares. He towered over Mikansia; she froze. Krakeru smiled and said one word: "More". He knocked her over. Mikansia couldn't get over her fright until her pants were well off and her "father" was ready to start. She wrestled him off and tried to make a break for the sword in the wall. "Krakeru" leapt after her, laughing.

Tyce appeared out nowhere and grabbed "Krakeru" from behind, punching him.

Mikansia yanked Jabez's sword out of the wall. She began the Song of the Sword, angry and low, in her alto. Tyce joined in with his high tenor. The blade, already a bright rainbow, began to glow a hot white. Mikansia saw that the succubus was atop a checked out Ensio, riding away. Ember was being raped to death in a corner by some stranger; Dale sat nearby, blood coming out of his ears, transfixed. "Krakeru" lunged. Tyce pulled him back. Jabez's sword penetrated. Mikansia heard Jabez's words "If I'm going to die it's going to be on my own two feet, ON MY TERMS". Tears streamed down her face as "Krakeru" vanished into her blade.

Mikansia and Tyce, still singing in perfect harmony over a song of rage in grief, strode over to Ensio. They yanked the "succubus" off the blacksmith. Tycle pulled Ensio further away while Mikansia cut the "succubus" open. ."She" vanished into the white-hot blade. Dale hadn't moved; Ember had stopped screeching, but the vile act continued. Mikansia, Tyce, and Ensio shook Dale. Mikansia told Dale Ember needed him, here and now, this wasn't the time to give up! Not now! Not ever!

The apparition faded.

Dale fell over, blood coming out of his eyes. Ensio yelled to destroy the eldritch egg, quickly! One swipe of the glowing white sword and it collapsed, sighing in relief.  Tyce vanished. Mikansia muttered a heartfelt thank you to him, as she and Ensio quickly moved Dale to their flying ship, where they quickly donned their trousers. Ensio apologized for not explaining earlier, but the creature was going to open a portal to Dream using the sword and put the eldritch egg into Dream itself, which would have warped the dreams of everyone on the planet, making them materialize in the physical world. Luckily for the world, Mikansia was an amazing swordsman.

Mikansia had to hold onto the ship, Ensio was flying so fast. In her lap lay Dale, who was having trouble concentrating and staying awake. Holding him with her other hand, Mikansia sang a lament to Dale, keeping him awake and focused and entranced by just the sheer beauty of the elven song as the ship streaked acrost the sky.

There was an elven ship in the smithy, back at home. General Santeri was crawling out of the crashed ship, a gaping hole in his body. Ensio didn't even notice; he was carrying Dale off to find what medical care he could. Mikansia ran to Santeri, pushing through the gathering crowd, who was weakly calling for her. There were tears in his empty and despairing eyes. He hacked up blood onto Mikansia, who was so covered in gore already that she didn't flinch. She drew him into her arms. He sobbed: the king was a dark elf! Their king! He was the one who had given the order to send Jabez, Santeri's precious little boy, to Elfharrow. Jabez, who Santeri had always tried to challenge but had frustrated instead! Jabez, who had served with the sword of his grandfather, a sword he had prized above everything else! Hacking up more blood, Santeri whispered that was how he knew that Mikansia was so good: Jabez would have given that sword up for nothing less. Mikansia, weeping, promised that the sword would always be used to uphold the principles she and Jabez believed in. Placing Santeri's hand upon the hilt of Jabez's sword, Mikansia promised the sword would be used to avenge Jabez.

Her promise fell on dead ears. The grip on the hilt was almost absolute.

There were shouts of dismay. From the sky descended a half dozen elven sky-ships. Zaina was in the foremost one, in general's garb. And she had a s mile on her face that filled Mikansia with a cold fury.